At a recent blind tasting of Napa Chardonnay's, it turned out that there were two identical bottles submitted and served blind. Always an interesting experiment as such factors as storage and even the tasting order can affect the results. As it turned out, bottle #1 was the first served while bottle #2 was the last one served.
Bottle 1. Yellow/green in color, clear and bright. The nose is nice with grapefruits, slight lemon and a touch of butter and oak spices. Full bodied. Nice oily texture. On the palate, this has some depth. Moderate acidity. Some lemon with a fair amount of oak. Long finish. A very representative Napa Chard. Drink over the next five to seven years. Nice on its own, this would work with Salmon.
Bottle 2. Yellow/green in color, clear and bright. The nose has lots of oak spices along with some lemon and grapefruit notes. Full bodied. Nice texture. On the palate, there is again a lot of oak with some grapefruit notes. The fruit on this bottle seems more reticent while the oak is more prominent. This could certainly benefit from some richer seafood or poultry dishes.
